Less is more when it comes to social media stardom — as in, less clothing equals more money.
A study of the world’s most popular Instagram influencers has uncovered that those who flash their flesh are paid more by big businesses to promote their products, proving once and for all that sex really does sell.
Sonia Gaenssle, a professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands, made the finding after analyzing images of 500 top Instagram stars across the categories of fashion, fitness, food, music and art.
Her research paper, titled “Income distribution and nudity on social media: Attention economics of Instagram stars,” was published online Monday by the academic journal Kyklos.
“The results show positive impact of body exposure on monetary success,” Gaenssle declared, saying top influencers can net more than a thousand extra dollars per week simply by stripping down.
While Instagram prohibits the posting of fully nude photos, Gaenssle classified images of the influencers showing 50% or more naked skin as scantily-clad.
The academic determined that the 500 analyzed influencers make an average of $16,467.84 per sponsored post. Each of those Instagram stars posts an average of 2.5 branded pictures per week, meaning they net worth of $40,000 in a seven-day period.
“By comparing different portfolios of accounts (some having a higher degree in body exposure than others), the estimations show that, on average, one more nude picture increased the revenue by almost 4%,” the professor proclaimed. “Given our focus on [the] income of superstars, the percentage change in revenue is considerably high.”
Indeed, Gaenssle’s research shows a top influencer can net an extra $1,600 per week if they show some skin. That adds up to more than $80,000 extra over the course of a year.
Interestingly, Gaenssle uncovered that “both female and male accounts profit from body exposure.”
“Accounts with high level of body exposure achieve higher prices and advertising revenues than accounts with less nudity, regardless of the gender,” she declared.
However, the academic uncovered some surprising earning differences between the sexes when it came to analyzing their sponsored posts.
She determined that the male Instagram stars are paid, on average, more money by businesses to hawk their products, “raising questions about the societal and cultural factors that may contribute to this bias, including gender stereotypes and expectations about the value of male versus female content.”
However, a majority of the top 500 influencers analyzed were women — and they posted sponsored content more frequently, meaning they earned more money than their male counterparts overall.
“[While] the prices for male content are higher, accounts with female content perform comparably better regarding overall advertising revenue,” Gaenssle found. “This suggests that female creators may be more successful in monetizing their content or advertisers regarding them as a better fit for certain campaigns.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Gaenssle found differences between the different categories she analyzed and the amount of flesh that was flashed.
For instance, the fitness and fashion influencers were far more likely to be more naked in their sponsored content photos than the food or art influencers.
In the fitness category, Gaenssle asserts that “nudity is specifically beneficial.”
“In a category that focuses on physical activity, this seems plausible,” she wrote. “Followers can feel inspired by the activity and shape of their idols and influencers.”
Overall, the findings may spur some influencers to start taking off their clothes, given that businesses are more likely to splash cash on stars who flash flesh.
But Gaenssle believes her research should prompt further discussion and interrogation about the ideas popular Instagram influencers convey through their images.
“The findings suggest that there is a considerable demand for sexualized content, but it also raises questions about the objectification, body images, and perception of beauty,” she declared.
